"Regubaaaaaaaa! Strike for freedom!"
Dann and his slave army came charging to the rescue. They hit the vermin's flank like a tidal wave, changing the face of the battle completely.
Ullig and Wilce had fallen to the rear, careful not to be in the front line. Now, when the huge mob of reinforcements arrived, they saw defeat looming.
"That's torn it. Let's get out of here!" Wilce muttered to her companion.
A huge paw smacked down on Ullig's shoulder, and he was knocked flat by a burly hedgehog maid. She smiled grimly at him as she raised a loaded sling and spoke the last words Ullig was ever to hear in his life. "Well well, if'n it ain't Ullig the Slave Cap'n!"
A crowd of slaves cornered Wilce. She had nowhere to run.
"Look, mates, 'tis madam 'igh'n'mighty, Lantur's ole pet!"
"Aye, she 'ad me beaten just for lookin' at 'er!"
"Remember she 'ad our rations cut when 'twas too cold for us to work?"
"I remember that was a hard winter. I vowed if ever I got the chance I'd pay 'er back someday. Now the time's come!"
Wilce's final shriek as they fell upon her was so piercing that it actually caused a lull in the fighting.
Song and her two friends emerged into the courtyard just as Wilce screamed. It was a critical moment. The water rats ceased fighting and dropped their weapons, an uneasy murmur arising from them at the sight of their two leaders lying slain. Taking in the situation at a glance, the young squirrelmaid tried a desperate gamble. Raising the Leafwood high above her head, she strode boldly among the vermin, calling out, "Surrender and you will not be harmed. The Marlfox has gone and your leaders are dead. Surrender, I command you. Surrender! Sit down upon the ground all those who want to live!"
Whether it was the authority carried by her voice, or the fact that the slow-witted vermin were conditioned to obey orders, Song never knew. She looked about, trying to hide her astonishment. Every vermin soldier was seated firmly on the ground, watching her.
Burble's outburst almost ruined the moment. "All except you four, yiss yiss, yore fine big buckoes, I want y'to carry me nice ould chair down here an'. . . Yowch!"
Torrab had silenced the watervole by treading heavily on his footpaw. She glared at him ferociously. "Seal thy foolish mouth, rivermousey!"
Meanwhile, Mokkan hurried along the damp rock passages that ran beneath Castle Marl, holding a small lantern. The tunnels wound many different ways in mazelike patterns, but the Marlfox kept unerringly to one passage, sure of his destination. It was a rusty metal door, small and set low at the rear of an alcove. Mokkan gritted his teeth as he prized with his axblade, forcing the door to squeak in protest as it was wrenched open. He held the lantern ring in his teeth as he scraped through the doorway and began the long upward climb along a tunnel carved into the solid rock. At the top, he slid aside a flat slab and emerged into broad daylight. Tossing the lantern into the tunnel, he drew his cloak tight and took off along the boundary where the woodland grew down to meet the rocks. A sudden sound caused him to pause, then move silently back into the shade of a rowan and become almost one with it, using the Marlfox art of camouflage. Durrlow passed by him, glancing fearfully back at the high side wall of Castle Marl. Mokkan materialized behind the water rat and dealt him a sharp blow with his ax handle. Durrlow sprawled on the ground, one paw to his injured shoulder, the other held to his face as he cringed to avoid his master.
"I wasn't runnin' away, Majesty, I was . . . er . . . Don't kill me!"
Mokkan kicked him contemptuously. "Get up, you whining oaf. Follow me and do as I say!"
Shortly afterward, they lay among the loose rocks close to the plateau, Mokkan's axblade pressed between Durrlow's shoulder blades as he whispered orders. "Get down there fast and paddle that logboat over here. I'll be waiting for you. Hurry!"
Gawjo allowed Song to bandage his paw as they strode behind the vermin to the lakefront.
"Grandpa, will you keep still, please. This wound has to be bound, and I can't do it while you walk!"
The old squirrel warrior winked at her fondly. "My liddle Song, the sweet voice o' reason. Time for all that when we've finished this job."
At the water's edge the defeated rats were made to pile up their armor and weapons. Helmets, breastplates and shields in one heap, spears, slings, bows, arrows and swords in a separate array.
Dann took command of the disposal. "You creatures have no need of armor. On an island such as this there'll be no need to attack or defend from this day forward. So step up smart now an' let's see ye sling all this gear into the lake!"
Gawjo admired his neatly bandaged paw as Song skimmed a shield out over the water. It skipped four times, then sank with the noon sun glinting off it. The old squirrel warrior watched as it disappeared from view, butted from side to side by the hooked snouts of curious pike.
"Well, missie, there goes the garments of war. That was a good idea of yours. 'Tis nice to 'ave a clever granddaughter."
Song was as tall as her grandpa^! so it was not difficult to throw an affectionate paw about his shoulders. "Aye, and it isn't so bad having a good old grandpa!"
The weapons were next to go. Dann noticed that some of the vermin were actually enjoying it, laughing as they aimed their spears far out into the lake.
"Hoho, mate, mine went further'n yores!"
"Well, watch this fer a good throw!"
"Hah, last time I'll ever polish my spear fer guard duty. Remember 'ow Ullig used to 'ave us beaten for paradin' wid a dust speck on our spearblades?"
"Aye, curse 'is memory! This was 'is sword, I 'ope it rusts to nothin' in the waters!" The polished blade flashed in the sunlight, splashed into the lake and was lost to sight for ever.
Mokkan was concealed by high shelving rock at the side of the plateau as he climbed down to the waiting logboat with the laughter and cheers of his defeated army ringing in his ears. Durrlow crouched nervously at the water's edge, keeping a wary eye on the pike watching him hungrily from just below the waterline. He held the stern of the logboat steady for the Marlfox. Mokkan pushed past the water rat and jumped into the waiting craft, which wobbled perilously for a moment and then settled. Seating himself, Mokkan readied his paddle, nodding to Durrlow. "Get in!"
"I ain't goin' with you, sire."
Mokkan stared at his subordinate in disbelief. "What did you say?"
A look of stubborn resolution was in the water rat's eyes. "I said I ain't goin' with you, Marlfox!"
A quiver of rage shook Mokkan. "When this is over I'll be back," he snarled. "Mark my words, rat, you'll be screaming for death before I'm finished with you!"
Durrlow gave the logboat a hefty shove, shooting it out onto the lake, smiling happily at the irate Marlfox.
"Yore killin' days are over. Bad luck go with yer . . . Majesty!"
The last of the water rats' weapons had been cast into the lake when Mokkan hove into view, paddling furiously. Dippler was first to sight him, and hopped about wildly. "Look, the Marlfox! There he goes!"
Mokkan paddled like a wildbeast to get out of weapon range. Dann ground his teeth in frustration. "He's gettin' away. Gawjo, what'll we do?"
The old squirrel shook his head. "We can't do anything, Dann. The Marlfox is out o' range. Nobeast could throw a spear that far."
Suddenly everybeast leapt to one side. A whirring noise filled the air.
Whruuuuum! Whrrrrruuuuuuummmm!
"Take this with ye, vermin!"
A former slave, the burly young hedgehog maid, raced forward to the rocky plateau brink. She was swinging an iron slave chain in both paws. Faster and faster she whirled it, until it became a blur. Song pulled her grandpa down flat, narrowly avoiding the broken manacles at the chain's end as the links thrummed louder and louder.